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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22356127">Interlude V: A Long Awaited Ceremony</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/AndiiErestor/pseuds/AndiiErestor'>AndiiErestor</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Different Time, Different Place [9]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works &amp; Related Fandoms, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M, in which a wedding finally takes place</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-01-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-01-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 09:00:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,291</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22356127</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/AndiiErestor/pseuds/AndiiErestor</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The sight of the two of them standing together as they spoke their vows to each other is one I'll never forget. I don't even remember what their vows were, though it hardly matters anymore given the length of their commitment to each other already and all the obstacles they'd surmounted.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Erestor/Glorfindel (Tolkien)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Different Time, Different Place [9]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/119302</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Interlude V: A Long Awaited Ceremony</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>How Melpomaen was his usual calm, collected self when there was still so much left to do, I had no idea. He stood at the arch leading into the grove and directed people to their seats, meanwhile the flowers meant to crown da had yet to arrive, papa's circlet was missing, da's nerves kept getting the better of him at seeing how mant guests were present already and kept saying he and papa should run away and elope instead, and papa on his end kept messing up his own hair and wrinkling his robes by clutching at them.</p><p>"Lindir," Melpomaen sighed, no doubt tired of seeing me sneaking around when I should be helping da and papa. "What is amis?"</p><p>I explained the situation to him with no lack of emphasis on the utter chaos of the situation, yet he still laughed.</p><p>"Oh Lindir," he shook his head, "You know well how long they have loved each other. Their nerves makes sense if you consider the horrors they have seen in their lives. The guests have nearly all arrived, song-bird. I will come fetch you once everyone is seated. If everything isn't settled by then, we will simply proceed with what we have."</p><p>He paused to welcome a few more guests before continuing, "For example, I've had to ask the neighbours for extra chairs. Guests now arriving will have to stand." He nodded to another couple and gestured to the back of the seating area. "However, as everyone who was given an invitation has arrived, I'm not worried either way. Uninvited guests will stand and we will begin with they stop arriving, or when the area is full - which at this rate will likely be soon. YOu should make sure that da hasn't run away yet."</p><p>I nodded and hastily made my way back to da's room, where lady Galadriel was busy fussing over the flowers in his hair while settling him down. Over his shoulder I caught her eye with a nod and assured her that it wouldn't be much longer now.</p><p>In papa's room, I found lord Elrond scolding him quite loudly as naneth held his hands - a sad attempt to distract him from pulling at his hair or robes.</p><p>"So help me, Erestor," Elrond said, shaking a finger at him comically, "We have all been waiting for this wedding for years. I will not let you ruin your own wedding. Do you understand?"</p><p>"Not much longer now, lord Elrond," I said and papa shot out of his seat. "No, no no, not yet papa. Soon!"</p><p>"Doesn't this ceremony begin when <em>we</em> arrive? Why are we still waiting?"</p><p>"Guests are still arriving papa, if we begin now we will constantly be interr-"</p><p>Melpomaen appeared at the door in that second, "The grove is packed, we should begin now. I will fetch da."</p><p>"Finally," papa stood again, with lord Elrond straightening his robes once more and naneth tucking his hair back into place.</p><p>I went over to the window to keep an eye out for da's appearance. It wasn't until I saw Melpomaen waving up at me that I remembered they'd agreed to walk together.</p><p>"We can go now, papa," I said and turned back to him, only to be cut short. The smile on his face blew any thought of speech from my mind.</p><p>"I'm getting married," papa whispered in awe to lord Elrond as his eyes began to water.</p><p>"Aye, my friend," lord Elrond smiled softly and took papa's hand. "Your husband is waiting."</p><p>Finally we left the room and made our way to the grove. I spared a moment to offer them both a smile before following Melpomaen down the aisle to take our places at the front. I was sad to miss seeing them together for the first time, but <em>oh</em>, seeing them walk down the aisle together more than made up for it.</p><p>Lord Elrond's arrival heralded the beginning of the ceremony and thus the start of the music. A song played that was written for them - for this ceremony specifically - and then, when lord Elrond have taken his spot, they came forth.</p><p>The sight of the two of them standing together as they spoke their vows to each other is one I'll never forget. I don't even remember what their vows <em>were</em>, though it hardly matters anymore given the length of their commitment to each other already and all the obstacles they'd surmounted.</p><p>They'd explained to me the significance of their dress that day, but despite that, they simply looked touched by the valar themselves.</p><p>Papa's hair was held back only by two side braids. His circlet had never been located, but naneth had managed to place the jewels in his hair without it, making his hair look like the midnight sky. His outer robes were purest white, the inner the darkest blue -the kind that made you wonder if it really was blue anymore, the kind that made his skin seem to be made of the rarest pearl. His eyes were glued to da's, and swimming with joy. Radiating the light of the moon, his hands in da's, they received the blessing of Varda.</p><p>Da's hair was loose as it had rarely been in middle-earth. The flowers woven into his hair seemed to create an aura of gold around him, as though his inner light wasn't strong enough to do so already. His robes of white and gold, mirroring papa's but shining like the sun. His skin darker now for the time he'd spent in it since arriving on the shores of aman. The golden embroidery on his robes was reminiscent of the house he'd once ruled. Though he'd tried to deny it, the title followed him ever, and papa was always first to name him so. And so it was that as he now shone with the light of the sun, his hands in papa's, that they received the blessing of Manwë.</p><p>Though many guests were chased from the grove after the ceremony itself was over, many remained out of sight on the front lawn or the fields about the home of lord Elrond. The lively atmosphere lending folks to kindness and generosity. All were glad to sit on the grass and simply reminisce.</p><p>I sat with naneth and adar and Melpomaen, chatting amicably with folk we'd only heard of in songs and tales in our youth. I could hardly believe some of these folk were real, much less that our rag-tag family could be related to any of them. It was a wonderful affair, though nothing could take away from the sheer aura of love surrounding the newly wedded couple.</p><p>Da and papa brought out a brightness in each other and in those around them that evening that brought tears to many an eye.</p><p>Myself?</p><p>I'd like to say I was above that much, but the truth of it is, no words exist for the depth of their emotion. Their... <em>Being</em>... for each other. It was in the way their eyes sought each other's, and the way their hands gently grasped an arm, a shoulder, grazed along a back, or played with the tips of their unbound hair.</p><p>It was in the way they moved in tandem, always, like two branches on a tree swaying in the wind: together or apart, but always as one.</p><p>It was in the way, after a long night of revelry, of joy, papa lay his head on da's shoulder and let him lead them away from the gathering of merry folk to the guest house at the far end of the gardens.</p><p>The way they simply <em>were</em>, as though nothing else mattered but the air the other breathed in, and the love they breathed out.</p>
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